While Big Sam’s future at St. James’ Park is in doubt, I feel he deserves a few more weeks in charge to see if he can turn Newcastle United’s fortunes around. While other clubs were wise to sack their managers (Wigan, Spurs, Bolton and Chelsea), Big Sam has proven himself as a manager while at Bolton.
At the beginning of the season, Newcastle was in a terrible mess and they still are, but giving Allardyce the heave-ho at this point will serve no purpose except to add to another long list of managers at Newcastle who have failed to achieve.
What is vital, however, is that Newcastle needs to put in a performance today at St. James’ Park to restore the faith among the fans. They need to see a gritty performance where the players are trying to win every 50/50 ball. The United players need to show how much pride they have in wearing the Newcastle shirt and fight for their lives.
Against Arsenal it’s never going to be easy, but if Newcastle wants the boost they desperately need, today’s match against the Gunners will go a long way to helping Big Sam.
While the Newcastle United players have a lot to prove, so too does Sam Allardyce. If he wants to have ambitions of managing England in the future, he needs to turn around the ship at Newcastle and make this team into a winning side. All he needs to get started is a few victories between now and New Years. Let’s see what he’s made of.
